During our conversation, Damon Lindelof spoke about one important detail from the season three premiere: The gigantic Gary Busey balloon.

Police chief Kevin Garvey and his son Tom squared off with a couple of rogue town visitors who brought a huge balloon of Gary Busey to the town of Jarden. "It is not a joke," one of the men said. "Mr. Gary Busey is coming back from heaven on the 14th — how is he gonna know where to land?"

You see, Gary Busey was among the 140 million people who vanished on October 14. This moment was a callback to a scene in the pilot episode of "The Leftovers."

Back in season one, Kevin Garvey was sitting in a bar watching a news segment about the anniversary of the Sudden Departure. A scrolling list of celebrities who Departed came up, and Gary Busey (along with Jennifer Lopez, Anthony Bourdain, and the Pope) were on the list.

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"I get the Pope," the bartender said. "But Gary f---ing Busey? How does he make the cut?"

We asked Damon Lindelof about the new reference to Gary Busey in season three, and the creation of his huge balloon.

"I just love that that balloon exists in the world," Lindelof said. "It was custom made. We didn't do it as a visual effect. It was like, 'Oh, no, no. We're making that thing, we're inflating it, we're floating it in the air, we're doing that — coat tassels and all.'"

For Lindelof, the Busey balloon was an Easter egg meant for the diehard fans of the show.

"We're not just doubling down on Busey, we're going by a factor of ten," Lindelof said. "For the true fans who have stuck with us since the pilot, I feel they deserve nothing less than a massive, floating Busey. If anyone is an organizer of the Macy's Day Parade listening to this podcast, you can have it for free. How great would that be? It's like after Garfield it's like 'and here's Gary Busey.' Fantastic."